Administratrix of richard l



UNITED i. iignil'gfgfi au l .in new ,n

JANE H. LLOYD, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ADMIXISTRTIIIX OF RICHARD L. LLOYD, DECEASED, ASSIGNOR TO GEO. T. PARRY, OF SAME PLACE.

REVENTING EXPLOSIONS III STEAM-BOILERS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 22,271, dated Eeceniber 7, i858.

To all wiom it may conce/ra:

Be it known that RICHARD L. LLOYD, ot the city ot Ihiladelphia and State ot Pennsylvania, did in his lifetime invent a new and Improved Mode ot Preventing the Explosion ot' Steam-Boilers, and I do hereby declare the following to be a ull, clear, and exact description of the saine, reterence being had to the accompanying drawing and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The invention of the said Biezen-rim L. LLorD consists in placing, within a steam boiler, a metallic conductor, made. to coinmunicate with the outside, for trie purpose oi maintaining an electrical equilibrium between the inside of the boiler and the outside thereof, and thus preventing the explosion oic the boiler, when the water becomes low and the plates unduly heated.

In order to enable others to practice this invention, I will now proceed to describe the mode adopted by he said Bici-nini) L. LLOYD in carrying it. out.

The said LLOYD in his lite time ascertained by actual experiment, that, by placing a` metallic conductor within a steam boiler and carrying it through an insulator to the outside, the plates ot the empty boiler might be reduced to a red heat and cold water suddenly forced into the interior, without that violent disruption of the plates ensuing, which the numerous, detailed accounts ot steam boiler explosions would suggest as the certain result of such an experiment. The said LLorD attributed the success o his experiments to the following causes: Knowing that numerous disastrous explosions of steam boilers had occurred, which could not be attributed to an undue increase ot pressure within the vessels, to the malformation of the saine, or to the inferior quality ot the material employed in their construction, he based his experiments on the generally accepted hypothesis, that, when steam is exposed to red hot plates, a gas or gases ot' an intensely explosive nature are generated, and that these possess the peculiarity, common to other explosive gases, of being ignitible only by a flame or an electric spark and not by contact with red hot plates. In generating steam, elecsaid LLOYD supposed to be retained within the boiler', its escape being prevented by a lining' of mineral substance, deposited in the interior ot all steam boilers to a thickness depending' on the nature ot the water used. ow as long as this film or lining of nonconducting substance remained entire, no ignition or explosion of the gases could take place, even should the plates ot the boiler be red hot. But, should the non-conducting lining become broken in any part, this broken space forms a communication between the negative exterior ot the boiler and the positive electricity within the saine, and an electric spark and consequent explosion ot the gases ensues.

On reference to the drawing. which toi-ms a part ot this specification; Figure l, represents a sectional view ot an ordinary, cylindrical steam boiler, with the apparatus ot the said Pr. L. LLoi'D, for preventing explosions; Fig. Qi, a sect-ion plan of Fig. l; F ig. 3, a transverse sectional elevation.

i is the boiler, to the top ot which is secured the socket B, the latter being arranged to receive the gland or follower C.

D is an insulator of glass, or other suitable non-conduct-ing material, and consists ot a tube with an enlargement or collar about the middle, this collar fitting into the socket and being surrounded by packing contained in the recess between the gland and the bottom ot the socket atter the manner or" the ordinary stutling box, so that the insulator, which projects above the gland and into the boiler, is maintained stationary and steam tight. In the interior ot the boiler is a metallic conducting rod I?, turnished with any convenient number ot' attracting points (Z, (Z, and attached to and suspended 'from a vertical rod E, which ts accurately in. and passes through the insulator D to the exterior ot the boiler. It will be seen without further description that, by the above described device, an electrical equilibrium may be maintained between the interior and exterior ot the boiler, thus obviating the danger ot any ignition of the explosive gases through electric sparks.

Having now described the principle oit the said invention, and the manner iii which y the said LLovD carried it into effect, I wish tricity is given out. which electricity the it to be understood, that I do not desire to linnt the claim ot the invention to such especial mode, as modihcations of the saine may be necessary in adapting it to different forms of steam boilers, but

I claim, as the invention of the said RICH` ARD L. LLOYD, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

Placing Within a steam boiler a metallic conductor, arranged to communicate Wit-h the outside of the said boiler substantially in the manner herein set forth, in order to maintain an electrical equilibrium between the inside of the boiler and outside thereof,

or with any matter surrounding or in connection therewith, for the purpose specified. In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of l5 t-Wo subscribing Witnesses.

JANE H. LLOYD, A(Zmnfswmm of the estate of Richard L.

Lloyd, deceased. Witnesses:

RICHARD C. LLOYD, JANE L. MACKY. 

